Hartley Neita, ContributorAccording to a bill which will shortly be debated in the Parliament, spouses of Prime Ministers will soon be entitled to a very generous pension. The pension will be equivalent to the present salary of a Prime Minister, to be adjusted whenever there is an increase. They will also be provided with a chauffeur's allowance, a gardener's allowance, a housekeeper's allowance, and secretarial help.
These emoluments will be payable for life, unless the spouses remarry, at which time the payments cease. Abruptly. Which means that any young man or young woman who might seek to marry a Prime Minister's widow or widower must face the fact that he or she will not enjoy his or her spouse's pension. Tut, tut. It has to be love without money.
possibilities
Reading about this decision set me thinking on all sorts of possibilities. It means, I believe although I could be wrong that had Donald Songster been married when he died his wife if alive would now be entitled to a back pension of 35 years. And if she had died, her estate would be owed this amount.
What about children left behind, and up to the age of 18? Should they not be
provided for?
I began to ask myself other questions. Are these pensions payable to the widows of Governors-General? And why are the widows of Leaders of the Opposition not entitled to similar provisions? Why not the widows of Chief Justices, Commissioners of Police and Chiefs of Staff? And, of course, we could go on and on and on.
To be frank, I have some concerns about this dispensation. First of all, the spouse of a former Prime Minister who has died will no longer be taking care of a household of two. Just one. Himself or herself. So, I would go along with a pension of two-thirds of the salary of the Prime Minister, instead of the full salary.
Secondly, if the spouse lives in a town house with no garden, or a 10'x10' patch of a lawn with a sprinkling of flowering plants, will this entitle him or her to a gardener's allowance?
Thirdly, why should a young and still strong widow or widower need a chauffeur? But then, maybe the provision of this facility improves the employment statistics.
Fourthly, there is the
provision for a secretary. This certainly seems like status.
decision based on emotion
I would support the provision of a nurse, or team of nurses, if the widow or widower is or becomes elderly. But I am not happy with the other benefits. I do not think the decision was thought through. It would appear to be a decision based on emotion.
This Bill will be passed soon. Some time in the not too distant future, Prime Minister Patterson will retire. At present he is without a wife, but it leaves him wide open to attempts by some ladies to try to entrap him at an altar. It should be fun and games. Are you prepared for the wooing, sir?
Finally, what is a pension? According to my dictionary, it is "a regular payment made by the state to people over a certain age to enable them to subsist without having to work; a regular payment made by an employer to former employees after they retire; any regular payment made by way of patronage, or in recognition of merit, service, etc."
And to "pension off", my dictionary says, means "to discard , because of age".
That, however, is not what is intended. Enough said.
